Young people are changing careers at incredible rates

The average 18 to 24-year-old has already switched jobs three times - the same amount most over-65s have in their whole careers, new research suggests.

It signals the collapse of the career ladder and its replacement by a "career web" as young people hop from industry to industry in a bid to land their ultimate job, according to a Barclays Lifeskills study.

Lifeskills director Kirstie Mackey declared the ladder "dead", adding: "The concept of a job for life no longer exists ... many of the jobs that young people of today will do in the future do not even currently exist".

Karren Brady is one of Britain's best-known businesswomen (Stefan Rousseau/PA)

Apprentice aide and business supremo Baroness Karren Brady said she was "someone whose career has transitioned from a traditional career ladder to a career web".

She added that "varied experience can be exceptionally valuable" and was something she looked for as an employer.

It's not mindless flip-flopping either.

Nearly three-quarters of young people believe in the concept of a "dream" career and the strategic job-jumping is a means of gaining new skills to get there.

If rates continue at current levels, millennials would have "seven times as many job roles as their grandparents' generation", the study said.

Baroness Brady added: "It's essential that young people get to grips with the 21st-century skills employers like me are looking for today - transferable skills like networking that will lead them on the path to success as they navigate their own career paths."